World No 361 Lois Boisson stuns Mirra Andreeva to reach French Open semi-finals

World No 361 Lois Boisson stunned sixth seed Mirra Andreeva to reach the French Open semi-finals and continue her fairytale run at her home grand slam.

Wildcard Boisson, 22, won a thriller 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 at a raucous Court Philippe-Chatrier and will face Coco Gauff in the semi-finals as she bids to become the first Frenchwoman since Mary Pierce 25 years ago to win the title.

Boisson fell to her back and covered her face with her hands after Andreeva double-faulted on match point and told the crowd: “It is unbelievable. There are no words for this feeling.”

The 18-year-old Andreeva was bidding to reach a second consecutive French Open semi-final but struggled to play against the crowd on a packed centre court and lost control of her game and her temperament.

The Russian teeanger led 5-3 in the first set and was up a break in the second but came under pressure from the inspired and relentless Boisson and received a warning from the umpire when she whacked a ball into the crowd in frustration after going down a break in the second.

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Boisson has now reached the semi-finals on her grand slam debut. She was supposed to take the wildcard last year, but suffered a serious knee injury when she ruptured her ACL a week before the Roland Garros main draw. It took Boisson nine months to recover, with her ranking plummeting to 361 in the world.

Boisson was the last French player standing in both men’s and women’s singles draws when she defeated compatriot Elsa Jacquemont in the third round. She stepped onto Court Philippe-Chatrier for the first time when she played third seed Jessica Pegula in the last-16, stunning the American 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 40 minutes.

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